Abhiroop Das
While ‘Yellowstone‘ captured hearts worldwide with its generational saga nestled in the heart of Montana, Paramount+’s ‘Dutton Ranch,’ a spin-off series created by Chad Feehan, brings the action to the town of Rio Paloma in Texas. After Beth and Rip are forced to abandon their up-and-coming ranch after a natural tragedy, they find their fresh start in a land with a history of its own. In the previous episode, we see the power couple carve out their own entry points into the empire that is the 10 Petal Ranch. This episode, titled ‘Cowboy Saint,’ pushes Beth and Rip to their limits as they do what they do best. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Beth and Rip Take Big Steps For the 10 Petal Ranch
‘Dutton Ranch’ season 1 episode 6 begins with a focus on Azul, who is about to become a father, and is quite nervous about the future. While Rip’s cattle may be all gone, Azul is still his employee, and they now have to push through these tough times together. As morning comes, the Dutton family gets together at the breakfast table, though none of them appears to be in sync. Today is Beth’s big day at work, as she has to fly with Beulah to make the sales pitch of a lifetime. Between that and Rip’s job as the foreman, Carter’s end of the story ends up snuffed out somewhere, especially as he cannot open up to his parents about what happened to Dwight. Luckily, today he has a fishing date with Oreana, and Beth secretly hopes that it might bring up his spirits better than whatever she’s tried thus far.
At 10 Petal, Beulah wants to go on a date with Everett and asks him out during breakfast, to which he delightfully agrees. By then, it’s also time for Rip and the ranch cowhands to receive a new batch of cattle. Azul and Zachariah are also working for 10 Petal today, and while the rest of the cowboys don’t seem too unfriendly at first, they certainly don’t seem welcoming either. Meanwhile, Beulah heads out with Beth for the private jet, as today their meeting is with one of the nation’s biggest supply and service-based conglomerates, Frontier Hospitality. Beth previously got very close to making a Frontier Hospitality-linked gourmet restaurant her first client, but with 10 Petal, she plans to cast an even bigger net and link up with the parent company itself.
Meanwhile, Chet, recently fired from the ranch, vents out his frustrations to Rob-Will, who seems to have left the rehab facility in Secret Mesa and has set up camp in a shack. Chet claims that he has given his entire life to 10 Petal, and has stomached some of its dirtiest secrets, because of which it doesn’t make sense for a newcomer to not only take away his position, but also oust him from the ranch itself. Rob-Will, seemingly sympathetic to Chet’s situation, promises to get him a way back in, even if it involves the use of violence. For quite some time, he’s been harboring a vendetta against Joaquin as well, and this presents him with an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.
Carter Confesses to Oreana as He Looks For a Fresh Start in Life
At the ranch, the gap between Zachariah and the rest of the ranch’s young cowboys only seems to widen as they begin engaging in not-so-friendly banter. Before long, Zachariah decides to show them exactly why he has the most experience in this entire group, and agrees to participate in a cattle roping competition. Elsewhere, Carter and Oreana’s fishing date seems to be going through a slump, as neither can quite overcome the trauma of their friend’s death. For Carter, Dwight’s death represents a much larger setback, as he had only just started to figure out his position in this whole wide world. While Beth and Rip undoubtedly love him to pieces, Carter cannot help but feel that his entire life up to this point has been determined by someone else.
Eager to take the reins of his life for once, Carter makes a rather surprising move by confessing his love to Oreana. In return, though, Oreana presents a much more thought-out response, explaining that neither of them has figured out love yet, and what they need is more time. Just then, Oreana’s phone rings with an unusual message that prompts her to turn the boat around and take Carter on a new adventure. Elsewhere, we catch up with Joaquin, who doesn’t seem too perturbed by the fact that his job as the ranch’s business strategist has been taken over by Beth. On the contrary, he seems more assured of himself than ever, kind of like Zachariah, who has a relatively easy time crushing 10 Petal’s record time for roping a cow.
Another Death Shakes up the Ranch
In the city, Beth and Beulah reach the Frontier Hospitality headquarters for a meeting with the CEO, Zach Nash. Here, Beth works out a somewhat extended version of the pitch she gave the gourmet restaurant, and the effect is undeniable. With 10 Petal providing the meat for a string of elite restaurants, hotels, and clubs, it isn’t just about quality after all, but the story that comes with the ranch’s history. On that note, though, Zach seems to be more interested in Beth’s history with the Yellowstone ranch, and while she tries to bring the focus back to 10 Petal, it’s ultimately Beulah who pulls off the finishing move, claiming that this might be Zach’s only opportunity to work with not one, but two of the greatest ranching families in the business.
Meanwhile, Rob-Will seems to be preparing for war, as he calls in an arms dealer to get Chet the weapons of his choice. The plan is to sneak into 10 Petal and ambush Joaquin in the middle of the night, and while Rob-Will claims to be in complete support, he mysteriously chooses to stay back. Chet, alone and drunk, confronts Joaquin out in the open and shoots, but ends up grazing his hand instead. This allows Joaquin’s bodyguard to arrive at the scene just in time to lodge a bullet into Chet’s head, just as Rip arrives as well, having heard the shots. Since Joaquin cannot go to the hospital with a bullet wound, Rip offers to take him to Everett instead, and Joaquin has no choice but to agree.
That night, Beth and Beulah sit down for a celebratory dinner, and the topic, as usual, winds back to discussing their family legacies. Beulah was commanded by her father to give up her life for the land, and while she has largely adhered to that cause thus far, a part of her still feels bitter about how old man Jackson preferred the land over his own daughter. Beth, unsure whether she can even relate to that idea or not, flinches further when Beulah brings up Jamie Dutton, and this doesn’t go unnoticed by the matriarch either. At the ranch, Rip stops the car midway as Joaquin lies bleeding, this time to confront him about the body from episode 1. Desperate, Joaquin confesses to it being a 10 Petal cowhand whom Rob-Will killed, and while he didn’t have a specific reason to dump the body on the Duttons’ land, this serves as a good reminder that actions have consequences.
Read More: Is 10 Petal Ranch Based on a Real Ranch?
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